


In-Between Days

by madansemacabre



Series: Calystegia [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:47:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29090013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madansemacabre/pseuds/madansemacabre
Summary: - This takes place in the Calystegia/Sunflower/Crown of Laurels universe!-Little snippets of moments that happened between Calystegia/Sunflower and Crown of Laurels, therefore if you haven't read Calystegia and Sunflower some of it might fly right over your head
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Series: Calystegia [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/959955
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. - SMOKER - Nothing Like a Housekey for Valentine's Day

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place nearly a year after Ace wakes up from his coma at the end of Calystegia! A small Smoker/Ace snippet

Smoker took a deep breath

_He could do this_

He felt like a tool right now, standing in front of Ace’s rehab center wearing a suit, holding a bouquet of roses and a gift under his arm

_It felt corny as fuck_

_Granted, it was Valentine’s Day_ and he wasn’t the only person in a suit with flowers, but this just felt so damn public for Smoker

He was a private person! _This was humiliating!_

Everyone at the station had ribbed him for it and he almost went back home and got changed

But no _, Ace deserved it_

Smoker inhaled sharply, _he could do this_

Ace was going to leave the rehab center in a few months and he would need a place to stay, right?

_It wouldn’t be abnormal if he offered, right?_

Smoker knew that his current home wasn’t accessible and he will have to move. Actually, he was thinking of buying a lot and building from the ground up to make sure their home would be perfect. _But was he being presumptuous?_ Thinking that Ace even wanted to move in with him? The other had never lived alone, maybe he wanted to experience that first?

Smoker shook his head – _he was being a fucking coward_

_He would simply ask Ace and get the answer from him!_

Breathing in again, Smoker took his first steps into the center. He nodded at the receptionist that was used to seeing him by now and went straight to Ace’s room

He rapped the back of his hand softly against the door, waiting to be called in – but heard nothing

Frowning, Smoker tipped his head slightly to check the whiteboard besides the door to see if Ace was gone to an appointment or physio

Odd, _it said he was in_

“Ah! Mister Portgas-Gol had a really rough physio session and fell right asleep!”

Smoker turned and spotted Tristan as she walked up to him

She worked at the rehab center and Ace really liked her – aside from being extremely friendly and kind, Smoker knew that her blue hair was something that Ace adored

_Sometimes he wasn’t sure if he was dating a man or a magpie_

“You know he just wants you to call him Ace” stated Smoker, a small smile on the corner of his lips – he didn’t want her to feel like she was being punished

“I know, I know” replied Tristan, smiling back

“So he’s asleep in there? Hmm…Could I leave these with you?” asked Smoker, holding out the items he was carrying

“ _Oh my god, you brought him flowers and gifts for Valentine’s day!”_ Tristan gasped, shoving her hand inside her scrubs and pulled out her keys “Oh no, you must give it to him”

“Waitaminu-“

“It’s alright” confirmed Tristan, grinning “Certain family members are allowed inside the room at all times. And I know for a fact that Ace scratched out Garp’s name and wrote yours. If anything, he’ll be angry if he knew you were here and left because he was sleeping. C’mon”

Smoker snorted, biting his tongue at the Garp comment

Garp had gotten so aggressive and clingy towards Ace that Ace was finding it beyond suffocating. Also he had decided that Smoker was The Enemy ™ and became obsessed with trying to break him and Ace up

_Which was dumb_. Because you’d think that Garp would know that the more he pushed Ace to break up with him, the more Ace went in the opposite direction. And frankly Smoker didn’t mind when Ace instead fell more into his arms because Garp was a dumbass

_And Garp was a dumbass_

Smoker almost choked last week when Ace snapped at Garp that if he could, _he’d get knocked up on purpose with Smoker’s kid just to make sure Garp wouldn’t get rid of Smoker_

Walking into the room, Smoker quietly sat down in the chair opposite to Ace’s bed. Ace was snoring away on the bed, sleeping heavily, his arm thrown behind his head without a care in the world

His hair was getting long, sprawled on the pillow underneath him and Smoker had to admit for that moment that he really wish he could just crawl into the bed and lay over him right now

Ace’s chest had healed nicely – there was a big ugly scar there that would never really fade. It wasn’t ugly in the sense of aesthetic, but mostly because Smoker knew what the horrible injury looked like before it healed. But as the skin now looked pink and healthy, Smoker was reassured that it also showed Ace’s resilience. Like the skin on his arm healed nicely as well. Ace’s mobility in his hand had improved dramatically as well. Ace had complained that his handwriting was horrible now – but Smoker had treasured every handwritten letter that Ace had written to him

_One for every day in rehab_

Some were written with his left hand, others with his shaky right hand, watching the writing getting better and better

Considering he visited nearly every day, Smoker was genuinely surprised when the letters came in. He missed Ace the moment he left the rehab center and then was greeted by a letter in his mail that somehow always carried Ace’s scent on them

He was keeping every single letter in a box; he’d scribble the date on the envelope and keep it safe

If he looked to the side, Smoker could see the desk that Ace wrote the letters on. The familiar stationary standing out, he mused the idea of peeping at the letter in the works but disregarded it. He wanted the surprise that it gave him every time when it showed up

  
_“Babe?”_

Smoker jumped slightly as he heard Ace’s groggy voice, knocking him out of his thoughts. Smoker turned to smile at Ace looking at him through sleepy eyes

“How long have you been here? Shit, how long have I been asleep?” mumbled Ace, stiffly trying to stretch himself out

“Not long, don’t worry about it” assured Smoker as he stood up, walking up to Ace and kissed him softly on the top of his hair, cupping his cheek softly

Smoker enjoyed the happy sigh that escaped Ace’s lips as he grunted, pushing himself to sit up

Smoker grabbed his chair and brought it besides Ace’s bed and sat down beside him, the nerves eating him up again

“You dressed up real nice” pointed out Ace, reaching over to stroke the lapel of Smoker’s blazer “And roses?”

“Felt…appropriate…for the day” mumbled Smoker, feeling his ears burning red

“For the day?” asked Ace quietly, before whipping his head to the calendar on the wall

There was a pause, and then Ace whipped his head back, smiling brightly

“ _You did this for me for Valentine’s day?!_ Babe! You didn’t have to! I can’t…do anything back right now” finished Ace, clearly frustrated

“You’re all I could want” admitted Smoker, offering Ace the roses, who happily took them, inhaling deeply

“You’re so sweet” Ace held them close, but still carefully not trying to crush them “You really didn’t have to”

“I wanted to” admitted Smoker, smiling as he reached forward and brushed Ace’s hair behind his ear “Also, I got you this”

Ace blinked, taking the package from Smoker and quickly unpacked it

“Oh! Is this a book filled with random facts about random stuff?” asked Ace, grinning

“Yep, I saw it and I knew it would be up your alley” admitted Smoker, happy to watch Ace flip through the pages

“Fuck yeah, I’m getting so bored in here” admitted Ace, chuckling, his eyes scanning the pages

“I figured, also…I wanted to ask you something”

“Oh?” asked Ace as he closed the book to give Smoker his full attention

_“WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE?!”_

Smoker and Ace groaned in unison as Garp burst into the room

“I thought I told them to stop him at the door” mumbled Ace, making Smoker snort “ _It’s Valentine’s day, you idiot!_ Of course _my boyfriend_ is visiting!!”

“Don’t you have anything better to do!” barked Garp at Smoker, making Smoker roll his eyes

“I’m here practically every day” stated Smoker, annoyed “ _I always make time to see Ace_ ”

Smoker knew it was a low-blown, but he was willing to so quickly forgive Garp’s years of neglect

Also he smugly enjoyed how red Garp’s face was getting at the slight

“He _is_ here practically every day. And when he can’t make it, he calls me to let me know” confirmed Ace

Smoker grinned slightly when he felt Ace’s hand moving up his arm

“Well, he needs to leave! We need to discuss you moving in with me!”

_What!?_

“There’s nothing to discuss. Not happening. _Aurevoir_ ” snapped back Ace, frowning, as he waved off Garp “I have no intention to move in with you”

“You can’t go back to Dadan’s! There’s too many stairs!” countered Garp, annoyed

“Where I choose to live if my decision, old man!” yelled Ace back, clearly getting really irritated

“You can’t keep being this stubborn! You’ll be discharged in a few weeks! Where the fuck are you going to go?!” snapped Garp

_“Anywhere but with you!”_

“Well you can’t go back to Newgate’s place! It was sold off!”

Ace’s eyes widen in silence, his mouth gaping, Smoker could see the tears welling up

_Okay, that was it!_

Smoker stood up, drawing both of their attentions

What happened to Whitebeard was still an incredibly delicate subject for Ace and Smoker wasn’t going to sit here and have it used as a weapon against Ace!

_“You need to leave”_ stated Smoker, frowning

“You don’t get to tell me what to do-“replied Garp, charging up to Smoker

“ _You’re upsetting Ace._ You’re yelling in a hospital and Ace has made his point very clear. _So you need to go_ ”

“ _You will not tell me what-“_

_“No, but I will!”_

Garp and Smoker turned around to look at Tristan, who was now clearly upset

“Ahh…Miss Tristan” greeted meekly Garp, shrinking down as he smiled weakly

“ _You were warned, mister Monkey!_ You keep coming in here and upsetting Ace! We have asked time and time again not to do so and I told you myself that the next time you did, I would personally escort you out!”

“B-But”

_“No buts! Out!”_

Smoker tried to keep his expression neutral as he sat back down, taking Ace’s hand and softly rubbing it with his thumb, hoping he calmed down

Once out of the room, Ace started to cough, grasping his chest. Smoker leaned in; rubbing Ace’s back, making soft noises

“Fuck, he gets me so fucking riled up!” muttered Ace, clearly frustrated with everything _“Thinking he has the fucking nerve to start telling me what to do with my goddamn life”_

Smoker frowned slightly, sighing

This was now not the time to ask Ace about his living arrangement plans for sure. Smoker shot his messenger bag a sad look; he had worked hard to organize everything too

_“Huh? What’s in the bag?”_

Smoker blinked, turning to look at Ace, who looked back at him surprised

“What?”

“You” coughed Ace “You just looked at it real disappointed”

“Ah…it’s nothing. Just something I thought of maybe…Naw. It can wait”

“But I wanna know now” asked Ace as he took Smoker’s arm on his back and put it around his own shoulder, leaning his head on Smoker’s shoulder

“I was…Perhaps thinking the same thing Garp was… _but not so demanding_ ”

“Huh?” asked Ace, looking at him confused _“You want me to move in with him?!”_

“What? Fuck no! _With me_ ”

_Fuck!_

“Christ, that wasn’t how I wanted to ask” mumbled Smoker, rubbing his brow

“Are…Are you asking me to move in with you?” asked Ace sweetly, clearly enamored with the idea

_Which was really encouraging for Smoker_

“Hmmm, kinda”

_“Kinda?”_ asked Ace, lifting a brow, with a teasing smile “You want me to move into your shed? Share the dog house with Justice?”

Smoker snorted, chuckling

“No, I mean, the house I’m in right now wouldn’t be accessible for you due to the different levels, the corridors as well but also the layout of the kitchen. I measured it and the part where the island ends isn’t wide enough for your chair to go through. Also, the counters and the cabinets are much too tall for you” listed Smoker, mentally going through the checklist

Ace blinked, looking at Smoker in awe

“You…You really thought this through”

Smoker nodded

“Yeah, I’ve attended a few online lectures, watched a bunch of videos and did a lot of reading. So really I think the best idea would be to buy a lot and build from the ground up” admitted Smoker, rubbing the back of his neck, feeling his ears burn again

_“You…You did all this research for me?”_

Smoker looked back at Ace, having avoided his gaze due to how embarrassed he was admitting to all of this, only to see that Ace was truly touched

“Well, yeah. I love you, I want to live with you” stated Smoker “In my bag is the top five lots I found that I think would work best. Do you want to-“

“Yeah, I do”

Smoker shifted slightly out of Ace’s touch and went to retrieve his bag and sat down. He pulled out the documents and handed them to Ace. Ace took them and Smoker leaned over to grab the roses

“Heeeey” whined Ace as the roses left his lap

“Just gonna put them in water, to make sure they last longer” replied Smoker, honestly just wanting to give Ace a little space with the documents

Once Smoker had the roses prepared, set and perfectly placed on Ace’s table, he returned to the chair. He sat down, watching Ace poured through the documents

“You…You really did some research. All of these are close enough to the station and a park”

“Also your university since you got accepted for September” pointed out Smoker “And close enough to the downtown that it wouldn’t be too far for you to get to either, so you wouldn’t be isolated at home. I checked the sidewalks as well, they’re all accessible”

Ace had just gotten into Goa University for the upcoming semester in the teaching program and Smoker couldn’t be more proud. The last thing he had wanted was to possibly hinder that by making it harder for Ace to get there

“But, I want to stress. _This is just a suggestion_ ” reassured Smoker “I don’t want you to think you have to move in with me or to do this. I just, I didn’t want you to think this was impulsive on my end to ask you either”

Ace smiled sweetly as him

“I love you so much” he said “I want to live with you and Justice”

“And Kotatsu can come too. I got the paperwork for him, we’ll just need to fill it out once we have an address”

Ace frowned sharply, looking at Smoker confused

_“What paperwork?”_

“…The exotic pet paperwork?”

Ace paused again

_“What?”_

“You know that having a lynx as a household pet needs a permit, right?” asked Smoker, knowing very well that Ace did not know this

“What? But he’s just like a cat?”

_“He is a lynx”_

“Okay, _but he doesn’t know that_ ” countered Ace “He thinks he’s a housecat”

“The law says he’s a lynx and needs a permit”

“Puushhaaa”

Smoker laughed at Ace’s answer, genuinely not surprised that it ended with him making noises at him

Ace then hummed slightly as he pulled up one particular listing

“I like this one the most”

Smoker blinked, it was his top choice as well, but he was surprised that Ace had plucked it out personally as well

“Oh yeah? Mind me asking why?”

“Real close to the park. I can cut through here to get to the high school, where I’ll probably do my placement at” explained Ace “Annndd, this is Cora’s house right? Over here?”

Smoker blinked, looking at the small map on the listing

Oh, Ace was right – _he would be in the same neighborhood as Rosinante!_

“Which means Luffy will be close by too! So I think this is great!”

_Uurruggghhhh fine_

“Yeah, it sounds perfect” admitted Smoker

The brat was annoying, but nobody truly made Ace happier than his little brother

“But I want to pay for half, okay? You’re not buying me a house” stressed Ace

Smoker knew that tone of voice – _there was no place for arguing with Ace on this one_

“I figured you’d say as much”

“I’m gonna use that sweet settlement money to buy myself a fancy house” said Ace, grinning at the prospect, making Smoker laugh

The World Government had lost miserably in court, court of public opinion and otherwise and had agreed to pay Ace a substantial settlement for basically terrorizing him with the looming threat of arrest and execution on his shoulders his entire life

Social media and the Medias in general had blown up considerably

People had been horrified and disgusted that they had done this to Ace simply because of who his father was

Ace honestly originally didn’t want to go after them, but when he realized the impact that it would have, the precedent it would set, he changed his mind

Smoker never asked for the details, but he knew that Rosinante had come to visit him one day with a determined expression on his face and had spoken to Ace for hours

A new law was even drafted and passed, banning the World Government from hunting down progeny of wanted criminals

Ace had changed the world simply by existing – _and now he wanted to use the freedom he had_

And as he put it, _that sweet settlement money, to do good_

And considering is was due to the World Government that Ace needed an accessible home, it felt absolutely fair to Smoker that he would use it for such

“Sounds like a plan. It might take a while for the house to be built though” admitted Smoker, knowing the reality of it

If they were lucky, it would be finished in late August

“Hmm, I think I can manage living on the main floor for a bit” teased Ace, grinning

“I’ll move the bedroom down” suggested Smoker “I’ll adjust things for us”

_“We’ll adjust things”_ corrected Ace, smiling “Because it’ll be our home, right?”

“Yeah” replied Smoker, leaning in to kiss Ace deeply “It’ll be our home”

And in their first night in it – _Smoker had every intention of asking Ace to marry him_


	2. -ACE- When It's Time to Unclench the Pearls (ASL scene)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy comes over with news of his first time that leaves Ace proud and Sabo homicidal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place after Sunflower! A little on the short side but oh well!

“HEY! Guys! Guess what?!”

Ace blinked, looking at Luffy that just burst into his room at the rehab center. Sabo had arrived about an hour ago and seemed as surprised to see Luffy as well

“What?” they both asked at the same time

“I had sex!”

_OH_

_MY_

_GOD_

There was a loud smash as the mug that was in Sabo’s hand exploded, crushed into pieces in Sabo’s grip as he looked like he was having an aneurism

“Oooh Omedetou!” said Ace as he clapped his hands

“OH! Mister Rosisi did the same thing when he found out!” exclaimed Luffy, pointed excitedly at Ace

_Hahahaha fucking awesome_

“Oh man, I love him. I told Chase that if he ever left me, I’d go marry Cora instead” stated Ace, chuckling “Oh wait…that would make Law my step-son… _Wow, that’s kinda kinky_ , my little brother’s doing my step-son”

_“Ace, shut up!”_ snapped Sabo, apparently having regained his senses

_Oh man, took him long enough to stop clutching his pearls_

“I told you that you were too young!” exclaimed Sabo, still kinda shocked

“Oh you popped your cherry at 15, relax” snipped Ace, looking not impressed at Sabo “So you sit the fuck down”

“S-Shut up! _This isn’t about me!”_ replied Sabo

“Awww look at me, I’m Sabo, and I’m all sad to see Luffy grow up, wah wah” mocked Ace, pretending to cry and rub his tears as Luffy merely laughed

_“Shut up shut up shut up shut up!”_ snapped Sabo, shoving Ace, making him laugh

“Don’t you guys wanna know how it went?” asked Luffy, a bit annoyed that nobody had asked

_Man, he was such a kid sometime_

“Yes!”

“N-“ Ace threw his arm around Sabo, pulling him in tight as he slapped his hand over Sabo’s mouth to stop him

He knew that if Sabo said no, that Luffy would drop it

_But damnit Sabo, we’re not ruining this!_

“We sure do, Luffy! _We want to hear about this very important moment in your life_ ” Ace hissed the last part so that Sabo understood

It was time to park his weird maternal feelings aside and be fucking happy for Luffy!

“So so, we were going to Torao’s place after delivering your invite and –“

“Oh yeah! Thank you for delivering that! He came to see me that evening to RSVP”

“RSVP to what?” asked Sabo, frowning

“Flyer’s on my desk” pointed out Ace, watching Sabo lean over in his chair to read the flyer for the seminar on having sex with paraplegic from his seat

“You think you’re ready for that? _It’s gonna be different than before_ ” cautioned Sabo

“I’ve been resisting the urge to push him down and blow him into next year since I woke up from my coma. _Trust me, I’m ready_ ” stated Ace, straight-faced

Also the fact that he noticed that when he was in his wheelchair and Smoker was standing beside him, that he was at the perfect level to his crotch and _it drove Ace absolutely fucking nuts_

_God he missed sucking dick_

_Stupid rehab and their no-sex rules_

But Ace also knew that Sabo was trying to derail the conversation away from Luffy getting laid

_“So Luffy, you went to his place?”_

“Yeah! But before that I asked Toroa straight up why we haven’t had sex! And he told me he was too nervous to ask and stuff. So I told him that I wanted to do it and I was glad I asked and then he told me that he had everything we needed in his van”

_“You fucked in his van?!”_ asked Sabo, a little screechier than Ace was used to hearing his voice being if he was honest

“Yeah! It was really fun! Torao got super nervous and started doubting himself in the middle, but I snapped him out of it!” exclaimed Luffy, smiling brightly

Ace couldn’t help but mirror the smile that Luffy was giving him. He knew that this was something he really wanted to do with Law. But all of his friends cautioned Luffy to not push it, which was understandable. But sometimes, Ace felt that even though his friends had Luffy’s best interest at heart, that sometimes they forget how good Luffy’s instincts were. So when Luffy told him that he was sure that Law wanted it too, Ace told him that he should just bring it up

Ace knew a thing or two about doubting that your partner really wanted you or not – _sometimes you just had to ask_

“So, it was really fun, huh?” asked Ace, grinning like a Cheshire cat as Sabo looked like he wanted to die besides him

“Yeah!! The prepping though was super weird” admitted Luffy, scowling, making Ace laugh

“Yeah, that part really blows. _Totally unsexy_ ” agreed Ace “So I guess Law topped, huh?”

Luffy nodded in agreement

“Since you told me how awesome it was to be the one who gets it, I wanted to try it!”

_“This is your bad influence”_ mumbled Sabo, frowning

“Did it hurt?” asked Ace, _wanting to confirm if he needed to punch Law or not_

“Hmm, no, like it felt weird at first. But Koala told me to practice ahead of time, so I was ready!” explained Luffy, proud of himself

_“Koala?!”_ croaked out Sabo _“Et tu, Brute!”_

“Good. I’m really glad. A lot of people don’t do it right and it really hurts. Bet you’re real sore right now, huh?” teased Ace

“Urgh, yeah, it’s not too bad now. But it was pretty sucky when I woke up” admitted Luffy

Ace smiled

“I’m really happy for you, man. I know this is something you’ve been dying to do” admitted Ace

Sabo sighed, rubbing his face

“Me too, Luffy. I know it doesn’t seem like it, _but I am_ ” admitted Sabo “It’s just kinda weird for me, because sometimes I swear I still see a little kid when I see you”

“Hey! I’m not a little kid!” huffed Luffy, crossing his arms

“Wow, that’s not helping your case, Luffy” teased Ace, snickering

“I know, I know, it’s just rough for me sometimes. I went from you as a little kid to you being a teenager when my memories came back. Sometimes, I have a hard time. But I am happy for you. Law’s a good guy and he seems to treat you right”

Ace stayed quiet

He often forgot that Sabo had ‘lost years’ so Luffy growing up, _so it does make sense for him to feel so distraught when Luffy suddenly wasn’t this cute kid that followed them around_

“And if he doesn’t, I’m going to re-arrange his insides” threatened Sabo, grinning with an intense glare

“Heeey that’s not nice!” whined Luffy _“You’ll scare him off!”_

“Yeah Sabo, gosh. You already beat up my boyfriend, relax” replied Ace with a little bit more venom that he meant to

He was pretty mad when he found out that Sabo had done that – _also that Smoker had literally fucking let him beat the shit out of him_

“So? _Did he die?”_ asked Sabo, with a straight face

Ace snorted, laughing as he gave Sabo’s arm a small shove

“Oh shut up” replied Ace “Luffy, don’t grow up like Sabo? Okay? Promise me?”

_“Hey! I’m the better example out of the two of us!”_

“No way, _you’re too damn soft_ ” retorted Ace, frowning

“What?! _You’re much too severe and disciplinary!_ And then you let him do whatever he wants! You go from strict as fuck to no boundaries at all!” pointed out Sabo, insulted

“Only because you baby him! _You’re way too protective of him!”_

Luffy erupted into a bright laugh, stopping the both of them

“You guys are being so dumb!”

Ace sighed happily

_He could do this forever_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's any other scene or such you'd like to see, feel free to suggest it! I can't promise anything, but maybe I'll be able to scrounge up something!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Also if you don't remember - Tristan is the mink!Nurse we meet in Zou!


End file.
